Croatia are now preparing for their first-ever World Cup final, with Zlatko Dalic's side surpassing the 1998 team which reached the last four in France.

Lovren, who has featured in all six of Croatia's fixtures at this summer's tournament, added: "This is something we will never forget. People are crying. It's something historical for us. We will never forget this.

"We beat our record from 20 years ago. We've had this weight on our shoulders all the time, and now people will never forget us.

"We have the chance to do something better, and hopefully we can do it on Sunday.

"It was tough first half. We couldn't control the ball or control situations. They had also good chances, but second half we did it much, much better. In extra-time we showed we are still able with the fatigue to play our game."